Cyber Essentials is the UK Government’s cyber security standard which is designed to make cyber security accessible for businesses of all sizes. Cyber Essentials’ five areas of coverage are designed to be a baseline for cyber security rather than a comprehensive defence system, which makes it a perfect standard for businesses with limited resources. Even so, keeping on top of the demands of Cyber Essentials can be a tough job, especially if your tie is stretched thin already. That’s where automating Cyber Essentials comes in handy.
At Business Defence Systems, we recommend using Cyber Smart to complete your self-assessment and the Cyber Essentials Plus process.
Here are 3 great reasons why you should automate your Cyber Essentials Certification with Cyber Smart.
1. Cyber Essentials Automation Helps Save Time
There are around 80 questions to complete with Cyber Essentials across the five different controls. You must give up-to-date answers to each question. Many questions require you to have the software version numbers of your company’s computers, phones, software and other assets. The easiest way to handle this manually is to create a spreadsheet of all the company’s physical and software assets, with device names and version numbers. However, this can take hours to complete if you’re starting from scratch.
Additionally, Cyber Essentials requires that you install patches and updates within 14 days of the update release. This means that version numbers need to be updated regularly. Updating that document can be annoying as you have much more software and hardware than you realise.
Additionally, some software programs do not allow automatic updates to be turned on, which means it’s down to the user to install the updates. Many businesses have settings that only allow downloads and installs with an administrator password. As many staff members might not want to bother the administrator or stop what they are doing to get someone, updating software might go by the wayside. Keeping on top of security updates might require you to put time in the calendar to update everyone’s software.
Cyber Smart’s specialist software can be installed on all the devices in your network. The person responsible for Cyber Essentials can see all devices on one dashboard, plus individual users can see the health of their own devices. It tracks all the programs and operating systems across your devices, keeping a list of all the versions and warning you when something is out of date. This software automatically populates your Cyber Essentials answer sheet with the latest answers, so you don’t need to worry about being outdated. It also monitors your firewalls and encryption to ensure there are no problems.
2. Cyber Essentials Automation Reduces Human Error
The Cyber Essentials question set is incredibly long. There’s a giant spreadsheet with lots of data to collect and input. As we explored earlier, that data changes constantly. This leaves significant room for human error, whether it is a misunderstanding regarding the information needed for the question, a typo or forgetting something. IASME, the certification body, is looking for specific answers to each question, and you need to understand what the question requires. With Cyber Essentials Plus, that might mean you fail your audit, which means, given the tight turnaround time, you might miss the assessment window. Although the self-assessment isn’t marked, you risk voiding your cyber security insurance if you make a mistake somewhere in your assessment. Mismatches from Cyber Essentials to Cyber Essentials Plus are an issue and can be annoying to fix.
Cyber Smart’s auto-population tools can help mitigate the risk of human error. There’s also human support through Cyber Smart to double-check your answers and assist with any questions. Cyber Smart also has an academy that helps you and your staff understand any risks.
3. Cyber Essentials Automation Helps You All Year Round
Your commitments to cyber security do not end once your certification is approved. If you’re managing your Cyber Essentials certification manually, you have 365 days of updates and changes to keep on top of. Letting things slip can void your cyber security insurance. Plus, it makes it harder to get back on track when next year’s assessment comes around.
Because Cyber Smart is an annual subscription, it means you’re compliant all year round. So, your network is constantly being monitored for updates to keep you safe next year. Plus, your certificate renewal will be a breeze. Your baseline cyber security commitments are handled and monitored. You have the headspace for more important things, such as newer cyber security challenges or hitting your next standard, such as ISO 27001.
Ready to get started? Contact us today to find out more about the Cyber Smart platform.